Recently, Japanese sites and Twitter users in Tokyo have spotted an old guy dressed in a sailor style school uniform—a truly unusual sight to behold. People were amused. People were baffled. What the hell was going on?!

A few years back, however, Kobayashi started wearing schoolgirl outfits at a well-known art and design event. That eventually turned into Kobayashi wearing the threads out in public. And that turned him into an internet sensation.

Whenever he’s in his schoolgirl gear, Kobayashi is surrounded by people—often, real schoolgirls—who want to get their photos snapped with him. He recently wrote on Facebook how he’s mobbed for photos, in his own words, “like a popular celebrity”.